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Basketball is a team sport and ascribing team outcomes entirely to a single player is usually a lesson in hyperbole. But it’s not the least bit hyperbolic to say that Jimmy Butler just saved the Miami Heat’s Finals hopes. Facing a 2-0 deficit and another crucial game without Bam Adebayo or Goran Dragic, Butler put his team on his back — finishing with 40 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
He quite literally did it all and single-handedly changed the momentum of the series, even if Miami’s odds of a complete comeback remain incredibly long. You’ve probably heard that Butler’s performance in Game 3 was the second-greatest Finals performance ever by Game Score and that he joined LeBron James and Jerry West as the only players to record a 40-point triple-double in a Finals game. But we found a few eye other eye-popping nuggets to contextualize this legendary game.
What else made Jimmy Butler’s Game 3 triple-double so special?
He scored 40 points without making a 3-pointer: This nugget was passed around a bit last night, with Butler becoming the first player to score 40 in a Finals game since Shaq in 2002 without making a 3-pointer. But what that stat misses is that he didn’t even attempt a 3-pointer. Butler has taken far fewer 3-pointers in these playoffs (2.6 attempts per 100 possessions against a postseason career average of 4.7 per 100) but this was a conscious decision to simplify and overpower the Lakers by force of will.
He had a hand in 63 percent of Miami’s points: According to SportRadar, Butler created 73 points in Game 3, between his scoring and assists. That’s tied with Jerry West, tied for the second-highest total in Finals history behind Walt Frazier’s 74 in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals. Talk about shouldering the offensive load.
He scored 40 on a 76.5 true shooting percentage: Butler was 14-of-20 from the field and 12-of-14 from the free-throw line. Only three other players this postseason have posted a higher true shooting percentage in a game in which they played at least 30 minutes and had a usage rate of at least 30.
He put up a 40-point triple-double WHILE ALSO DEFENDING LEBRON JAMES: According to the NBA’s matchup statistics, Butler was on the court for 63.6 defensive possessions and was matched up with LeBron for 32.3 of them (50.7) percent. These stats can be noisy when it comes to assigning responsibility for outcomes but they are a fairly reliable reflection of defensive assignments. And even if Butler is sharing responsibility with his teammates he helped hold LeBron to a good-but-not-great 25 points on 16 shots with as many turnovers (8) as assists.
He put up a 40-point triple-double while defending LeBron James WITHOUT COMMITTING A SINGLE FOUL: Butler played 44 minutes, generated a pair of steals and a pair of blocks, defended LeBron for more than eight minutes of actual game time, drove the ball into the paint 24 times and didn’t pick up a single offensive or defensive foul.
Again, we don’t want to wade too far into hyperbole but this was like watching a National League pitcher throw a perfect game while going 4-for-4 at the plate and hitting for the cycle.
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